


Treasure

by iamnotalizard



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...
Genre: M/M, mermaid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 16:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamnotalizard/pseuds/iamnotalizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>William didn’t know why all his treasures died -humans killed by an unknown force, swords rusted, silks faded to scraps- but that never stopped him from collecting all of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treasure

    A shadow passed over the rocks, distorted by the waves. William looked up, and peered through his hair that was floating around his face, like lazy eels around a rock. From his perch on a rock with an abundance of soft algae growing on it, he was almost always in the warm sun. At first he thought it was a sea turtle - they always swam closer to the surface on warm days, like today - but then realized it was too big to be a turtle, yet too small to be a whale, or shark. The wake that came from behind it was smooth, but wood kept hitting the water every couple of seconds. It steeped in the middle, pushing water aside. William smiled when he realized what it was.

    It was a boat.

    Pushing his torso off the stone, he quickly swam towards it. Slowing down before he hit the surface, William emerged, hair clinging to the side of his face. There was a gasp from the boat.

    “G-gabe,” a man stuttered, pointing towards William. He grinned, swimming closer to the side. The air was warm, the breeze soft, tickling his skin like seaweed when the current was gentle. The men in the boat, there were four, looked at him, in wonder. William heard the water break again, and saw the top of Ryan’s head peaking out, as well as Brendon who was grinning.

    They hadn’t had visitors in so long.

    William swam to the side of the boat, going under the water to fix his hair for a second. He felt the air hit his tail while he was under, it tickled the scales. He grabbed the edge of the boat, pulling himself up so that they could clearly see his head, and some of his torso. His tail moved back and forth, idly. There was a girl onboard, which surprised him. He hadn’t seen a real girl in quite a while. The last time he remembered seeing one was a few decades ago, and the men threw her off the ship, legs bound together. Pete had untied her of course, got her to the surface, and helped her to shore.

    The boat rocked, as Ryan and Brendon lifted themselves up, Pete joining around the boat.

    “Oh my god,” One of the men whispered. William looked at him, and felt his heart swell. He was beautiful. Tan skin - like the golden fish that glittered when the sun hit them just right - with a messy mop of curls on top his head. His cheekbones were so sharp, they looked like sea glass, and he was smiling, oh such a wonderful smile, full of bewilderment.

    William had to have him.

    He laughed, and watched their eyes widen. His voice was almost musical outside of the water. “Hello,” He sung, batting his eyelashes at the man.

    “Gabe,” said the woman. Gabe. That was his name. It was beautiful. But she wasn’t looking at William, or the lovely Gabe, but the side of the boat, where slowly more merfolk were gathering. The boat rocked with the weight of them grabbing on, trying to see what the commotion was about, and from their fins, batting away underneath the water.

    Ryan reached over, grabbing the hair of a man who was lanky and tall. He ran his finger through it in confusion.

    “I thought humans were supposed to have clean hair,” He giggled, letting his fingers ghost over the mans face. He leaned towards the touch, getting closer to Ryan, as if strings were tugging him closer.

    “Guys!” the girl shrieked, “Guys, remember! They’ll kill us!” Gabe shook his head, leaned away from William with a sudden look of fear in his eyes.

    William loved Gabe. He threw his arms forward, grabbing Gabe’s shirt, and pulling as hard as he could. Gabe fell overboard, the boat rocked dangerously at the shift of weight, and the people on board screamed. The mermaids let go of the boat, diving back under the water, back to whatever cave, or rock, or coral reef they were lounging around before. Nothing on the ship had interested them, there was no need to hang around.

    William swam deeper and deeper, tugging Gabe down with him. He loved Gabe. He loved him. But Gabe fought back. He flailed his arms, kicked his legs, and lashed out at William.

    “Stop it!” William shouted, “Stop it right now!” He gave another pull for empathis. They would be together, forever.

    He leaned over, and kissed Gabe, amazed by how soft his lips were. Gabe’s fighting had slowed down.

    “I love you,” William said, smiling, “I love you, I love you, I love you!” Together. Forever. He had been lonely for so long. Everyone down here either had someone already, or weren’t nearly interesting enough.

    William giggled, as bubbles left Gabe’s lips. Humans were so silly.

    Gabe’s chest stopped moving.

    “Stop that,” William murmured, tugging Gabe again, “Stop it, it isn’t funny, Gabe.” His eyes flickered closed, and William could no longer feel the movement of his heart.

    “Gabe,” William said, grabbing hold of his face, “Gabe, wake up. It isn’t funny. Gabe,” He remained motionless, light enough that the current could push him where it pleased. William kissed Gabe again, but nothing happened.

    “Gabe?” His hair was floating, curls moved like seaweed.

    “Gabe!” William let go, and Gabe didn’t do anything, floated, suspended. “Gabe, I love you! Gabe! Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!” He slowly floated upwards.

    William felt a pressure behind his eyes, and his lip quiver. “Wake up, Gabe!” He grabbed hold of his hand, and swam deeper, tail beating harshly. He had so many treasures already, beautiful pearls, golden coins, and swords from sunken ships, but nothing in his collection was as gorgeous as Gabe. As the mermaid tugged Gabe, he followed, body limp, no longer moving on his own accord.

    “Stop it!” William shrieked, digging his nails into his skin. He normally wasn’t this loud, so it didn’t surprise him when he attracted attention to himself. Pete came forward, emerging out of a forest of kelp that he was exploring. He swam towards William and his rag-doll like partner.

    “William,” Pete greeted, “What are you doing?” He tilted his head, giggling as the man’s head rolled back. Humans were weird.

    “He won’t wake up!” William said, the pressure behind his eyes building, “I love him! I fell in love with him! Please, help me, Pete.” The dark haired mermaid nodded, he understood. Not that long ago he fell in love with a sailor too, but he just followed his ship until it got too close to shore. He still followed the ship now, peering at the man from below the surface.

    “Maybe he wanted to say goodbye,” Pete suggested, “Maybe if we bring him back up, he’ll say his partings, and then be ready to come with you.” The pressure didn’t stop, but William smiled. Pete was so smart.

    Grabbing hold of Gabe’s underarms, William swam towards the surface, quickly. The sooner Gabe said his farewells, the sooner they would be together. The water broke, glittering in the sun like glass. William heaved Gabe to the surface, looking around for his boat, or a rock. He saw the boat, drifting slowly, a few feet away. William pointed it out to Gabe, but he didn’t do anything, just floated, eye closed and hair sticking to his forehead.

    “Go, go say goodbye,” He whispered in Gabe’s ear, smiling at the lovely sight. He tugged him to the boat, but he never made a sound. Figuring it was a private moment, he slipped back under the water, hidden beneath the shadow of the row boat. He heard a gasp.

    “Ryland, Ryland, look!” It was the woman's voice, wavering, “Gabe, oh my god, it’s Gabe.” The boat rocked, water splashing up the sides as they moved to see Gabe.

    “Oh my god,” Another man exclaimed, voice quiet and sad, “He’s dead.”

    William scrunched up his eyebrows. Dead? How could Gabe be dead, what could have killed him?

    “Oh my god,” The woman cried, “I knew we shouldn’t have come out here, now he’s dead, and we’ll die too!”

    Gabe was dead. The pressure behind William’s eyes grew until it was painful. Gabe’s body just floated, still beautiful, going wherever the waves told him to.

    William wanted to be with Gabe forever. A man sniffed, “We should probably take him, you know, back to shore. Have a proper burial. It’s the only thing we can do now.” Hands reached down, grabbed hold of Gabe’s soaked shirt. William was going to be with Gabe forever, one way or another.

    From his spot under the boat, William pressed his hands against the smooth wood, and pushed it as hard as he could. It was difficult, since he was in water, made his tail have to beat against the water extra hard. The was a gasp, and short scream, and then the boat tipped over into the water. The humans flailed their arms, getting back to the surface and taking huge gulps of air. Wiliam never understood why the humans refused to breath underwater. The splashing attracted attention to them again, this time Gerard, Mikey, Frank and some of the Sirens came to see what was happening too.

    William just wanted to be with Gabe, forever; he didn’t care what happened to the others. Tugging Gabe’s lifeless body again, he swam down, just as Gerard smiled his crooked smile, and Frank bared his teeth. The sun was blocked out by dark, murky blood, the waves overpowered by screams as the Sirens feasted on what they considered a delicacy, for the first time in months.

    William swam with Gabe, pulling him to his cave that he called a home. He set Gabe down, next to the treasure chest full of rubies that he found at a shipwreck and next to a large shell full of pearls that had come off of maidens necklaces. Gabe was William’s finest treasure.

    He grinned, petting his wet curls, ignoring the pressure in his eyes, before swimming out of the cave. As he swam out of the cave, he passed a pile of bones, bones from the last humans that he fell in love with, that he considered treasures. William didn’t know why all his treasures died -humans killed by an unknown force, swords rusted, silks faded to scraps- but that never stopped him from collecting all of them.

    At the back of his mind, William wondered what other treasures there were on the ship.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a headcannon that the reason why mermaids were portrayed as sirens in a lot of things, was because they killed all the people on a ship if they accidentally killed someone they loved because the concept of not breathing underwater was odd. That, and I love mermaids so much. So yeah, also, there is a difference between mermaids, and sirens. Mermaids are nice, and emotional. Sirens seduce sailors, before drowning and eating them. I want to be a siren. That is all, good day.  
> Also, this was edited by my lovely friend Chantal, whom I spent like twenty minutes talking about mermaids vs. sirens with.


End file.
